The Helen Macpherson Smith Commision
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An exciting new partnership between the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, the Helen Macpherson Smith Commission is a major new annual art commission that will give a Victorian artist the opportunity to create an ambitious new work of art, accompanied by an exhibition in ACCA's prestigious exhibition hall.
And, in an innovative move that will send the very latest in cutting-edge contemporary art across the state, the work will then be gifted to a regional Victorian gallery.
The Helen Macpherson Smith Commission is a major development for the visual arts in Victoria. A most generous endowment from the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust of $300,000 over a five year period will allow one Victorian artist annually the profile and platform to take them into the next stage of their career.
“This is a most important initiative that will have a huge impact on the careers of the artists who are selected for this commission,” said Mary Delahunty, Victorian Minister for the Arts. “ACCA is increasingly becoming known as Australia's most innovative contemporary arts space. In the past two years since its move to its stunning new premises in Sturt Street, it has commissioned 22 new works and helped launch the national and international careers of many local artists” she said. “Artists can be certain this commission will put their names alongside those of the likes of Patricia Piccinini, Daniel von Sturmer and Susan Norrie, all of whom have exhibited major new projects at ACCA.
“But equally as important is the Helen Macpherson Smith Commission's focus on regional Victoria, as it offers audiences across the state the opportunity to view the very latest in contemporary visual arts practice. I commend ACCA and the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust on this innovative new arts gift,” she said.
The Helen Macpherson Smith Trust was established in the 1950s after Helen Macpherson Schutt (nee Smith) gifted her substantial estate for the benefit of Victorian charities.
In commenting on the new Commission, Darvell Hutchinson AM, Chairman of the Helen Macpherson Smith Trustees, said: “This is a most exciting new collaboration for us. We have long been impressed by what ACCA offers to Melbourne and the arts community here, in particular the much-needed platform it provides for new and emerging art and artists. The Helen Macpherson Smith Commission offers us the opportunity to support ACCA during the early stages of its development in its wonderful new building in Sturt Street,” he said.
“This is also an important outcome for philanthropy and the arts. The concept behind the Helen Macpherson Smith Commission was a collaborative effort between ACCA and the Trust - one in which both parties came together to discuss their own needs and goals. Given the Trust's commitment to regional Victoria, we were delighted ACCA supported the notion of gifting new works to regional Victorian galleries. We really wanted people living in regional Victoria to be able to access the exciting programs this highly innovative gallery offers and we saw this Commission as a way of making ACCA's program accessible to the whole state,” he said.
Kay Campbell, Executive Director of ACCA, echoed Mr Hutchinson's comments. “This is an extremely exciting project: a win/win partnership which benefits all participants. It is a bold new initiative on the part of the Trust and a solid investment in contemporary practice. We are very grateful to the Trustees for their generosity and vision.”
Recipients of the Helen Macpherson Smith Commission will be selected by ACCA's Artistic Director Juliana Engberg, and encouraged to create works of ambition and scale. The regional gallery partnership, which will also involve a series of artist talks, workshops and education briefings devised by ACCA staff, will be forged on the basis of compatibility of gallery space and collection orientation.
The first artist to receive the Helen Macpherson Smith Commission will be announced in early 2005, along with the inaugural regional gallery partnership.
For further media information contact Katrina Hall on 0421 153 046 or email kathall@ozemail.com.au
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